Koborebanashi

Trivia, Tidbits and Tales about Japan

  • Guardians of the Waters

    You’ve probably heard of a chocolate teapot, as in the phrase ‘as useless as a chocolate teapot’.

    But what about a concrete ship? This might sound as crazy as a chocolate teapot, but in fact, concrete ships — that is, ships built out of concrete — did actually exist.

    What’s more, two of them still do exist, and are recognisable as ships. They can be found in Hiroshima Prefecture, in Yasuura, Kure City. They’re called Dai-ichi Takechi Maru (第一武智丸) and Dai-ni Takechi Maru (第二武智丸), but in this article, I’ll call them Takechi Maru 1 and 2 respectively.

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  • Supermarkets’ Secret Signals

    I noticed a long time ago that the supermarket near where I live plays ‘Singing In the Rain’ as background music when it’s raining. I assume that it’s some sort of signal to the staff, or it might even be for the customers.
    Anyway, I found out today (don’t ask how!) that it’s not just the local supermarket, and in fact that there are a whole range of signals sent by music in supermarkets. I suppose it’s like a non-verbal version of the London Underground’s ‘Inspector Sands’.
    Taking Ito-Yokado (a supermarket chain in Japan) as an example, the following tunes mean different things:
    – Daydream Believer, by The Monkees, is played when there’s nothing special happening;
    – Help!, by The Beatles, can be played by checkout staff to call for extra help on the tills when there are large numbers of customers waiting;
    – Carmen, by Georges Bizet, indicates robberies or other crimes in the store;
    – And (this is one you never want to hear), Symphony No. 5 (1st Movement), by Beethoven (da-da-da-DUM), indicates a bomb threat!
    Finally, there’s one probably targeted at customers rather than staff. Rhythm of the Rain, by The Cascades, informs shoppers that it’s raining.
    So, if you’re in a supermarket in Japan, and you hear a rain-related song, you’ll likely need an umbrella when you leave. On the other hand, if you hear Beethoven, it might be a good idea to leave as quickly as you can!

  • Maths on the Tram

    I was on a tram in Hiroshima today. It was a fairly full tram, and just by where I was standing, there was a family: mother, father, and son.

    The son was studying math, by the look of it for junior high school entrance exams. Why you would do that on a tram is anyone’s guess, but that’s what he was doing.

    Now when Japanese children do maths, they quite often write the math with their finger in the air. Actually, they do that when they’re writing Japanese characters (and practicing English, for that matter) as well.

    But what was really quite cute about the situation on the tram was that the young boy was using his father’s back as a sort of slate, or whatever you want to call it, on which to write the equations he was trying to solve.

    And the father? Well, he was just taking it all in his stride.

  • Newspaper Bins: Now, Just Heritage Items

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    At stations on JR West (and, I think, other JR areas), it’s quite common to see rubbish bins for newspapers and magazines.

    Now, given how many people spend all their time on the train using their smartphones (and by extension, not reading newspapers or magazines), I wonder how many people actually use those bins these days. I mean, there must be some, but you just don’t generally see people reading on the train so much these days.

    It’s nice that stations still have these bins, but in fact, it’s just harking back to an age that’s basically disappeared now. It’s a shame, really.

  • Crackballs!

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    If you’ve ever been to a bank or a convenience store in Japan, you might have noticed, tucked away behind the counter but still easily accessible (to the staff, that is), some orange balls. If you look more carefully, you’ll see that they’re actually clear balls filled with some sort of orange liquid. Any idea what they might be?

    Well, let me tell you. They’re actually to protect against crimes. They’re called ‘bohan colour balls’ (crime prevention colour balls), but I prefer the alternative (and far more attention-grabbing) ‘crackball’. Whatever the name, the idea is that staff can throw the balls at any criminals who are trying to escape.

    Good idea, but it raises one question (actually, several): do the staff actually practice throwing these balls? How do they learn to aim? What if they hit a completely innocent bystander? The whole ‘orange ball’ system just seems very prone to mistakes, let’s put it that way.

    I certainly wouldn’t have any confidence that I would be able to hit anyone who’d just stolen something from my shop or, worse still, from my bank… but maybe that’s just me.

    Footnote: It appears that people possibly do practice throwing the balls. There’s even a website (unfortunately only in Japanese, but then again, why would it be in any other language?) explaining everything you could ever want to know (and quite possibly more) about how to use the balls.

  • The Latest ‘Character Shinkansen’ Train

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    For a few years now, JR West seems to have been into ‘character’ Shinkansen: Shinkansen trains in a livery that evokes the character in question.
    The first of these was the Evangelion 500-series Shinkansen (still the best, in my opinion), and then came the Hello Kitty Shinkansen (which is great if you like kawaii).
    And now there’s a third ‘character’ Shinkansen: the ONE PIECE train. Actually, there are going to be three of these ONE PIECE Shinkansen, unveiled roughly one month apart. Only the first train, in the ‘Setouchi Blue’ livery, is running yet. The remaining two trains are due to be unveiled in May and June respectively.
    The Setouchi Blue train makes one round trip between Hakata and Shin-Osaka a day (at present), and it’s quite striking. If you’re waiting for a Shinkansen somewhere between Hakata and Shin-Osaka, keep an eye out for this train!

  • Easter’s Low Profile in Japanese Culture

    It’s Easter this weekend. I’m expecting some chocolate from the UK in the post any day now.
    But one thing intrigues me. Why isn’t Easter bigger in Japan?
    Looking at it superficially, the answer is obvious. Easter is a Christian festival, and Japan isn’t a Christian country. But just look at Valentine’s Day, admittedly not particularly Christian. It’s huge in Japan, perhaps even more so than in the Western countries where it originated.
    And then there’s Hallowe’en. There might not be so much trick-or-treating or dressing up, but there are whole shelves of Hallowe’en chocolate and sweets on sale in the supermarket in the weeks before the end of October.
    On the face of it, Easter should be a perfect festival for Japan: it has chocolate, and it has the all-important kawaii factor in the form of cute Easter rabbits. It should be up there with Christmas as a major Western day absorbed into Japanese culture.
    And yet each year, Easter passes basically unnoticed in Japan. I wonder why?

  • Interesting Japanese: 成金

    Here’s a good Japanese word you’re not likely to find in a textbook. It’s 成金 (narikin).
    Looking at the kanji characters, the word literally means ‘become money’. So any ideas what it might mean?
    If you guessed something like ‘nouveau riche’, then you’re correct. And just like the English (or French, to be more exact), it conveys an air of slight vulgarity.

  • I’m Curious: Why Do Smokers Wear Masks?

    Outside the supermarket near my house, there’s an ATM- or a cash machine- in a little building. And close to this, there’s the supermarket’s smoking area. As the name would suggest, It’s just a small area behind a fence where people can indulge in their nicotine fix. Why they can’t even go to a supermarket without needing to have a cigarette is beyond me, but that’s another story.
    Anyway, today I was waiting to use the ATM, and idly watching the smoking area. In the five or so minutes I was there, every single person who finished their cigarette immediately put a mask on.
    Don’t they realize that given that they’ve just been smoking, using a mask is probably a case of too little, too late?

  • The Scenic JR Kisuki Line: A Hidden Gem in Hiroshima

    If you’re in Hiroshima and looking for somewhere very scenic, and very off the beaten track, then the journey between Miinohara and Izumo-Sakane on the JR Kisuki Line is a wonderful journey with some spectacular views. It’s a long journey from Hiroshima, more because of the slowness of the trains than because of the distance, but a day trip is possible- and well worth it.